by Roy Glenn
They walked down the street in silence for a while before Black spoke to her. “So that’s Fiona.”
“That’s her.”
Black nodded. “I see what you like,” he said, and Jackie said nothing.
“Look, I know, better than most, who you are and what your passions are, and you know that I don’t have a problem with it but disappearing on Rain for days at a time can’t happen again. Understand?”
“Even though that’s exactly what we used to do?” Jackie asked, reminding Black of all the times that they picked a woman and disappeared for days at a time with her.
Black glanced at Jackie as they walked. “Yes. But those were different times.”
“I know. We weren’t fighting a war then.”
“I know you know all this.”
“I do. I just got caught up. It won’t happen again; you have my word.”
“Your word is all I can ask for,” Black said.
“She reminds me of us,” Jackie said. “I know how your taste runs and Fiona is exactly who we would have chosen for us.”
“That’s because we have the same taste in women.”
Jackie looked up at her former lover and thought about whether she wanted to say what was on her mind.
“I have a dirty little confession to make,” she said.
“What’s that?”
“After your wife came back from the dead, I used to fantasize about … you know … the three of us getting together and doing what we used to do,” Jackie said shyly.
Black laughed a little. “I have a dirty little confession to make too.”
“What’s that?”
“I used to have the same fantasy. Only it was with us and Jada West.” Because the idea of sharing Cassandra with anybody never crossed his mind. Setting out Jada, that was something else entirely. “But that was years ago.”
“Uhm,” Jackie said and ran her tongue over her lips. “That would have been good too,” Jackie said.
Black fist bumped her. “I know.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Damn,” RJ said as they watched the Escalade drive away. “What do we do now?”
“You heard what the man said. We find these niggas and kill them.” He took out his phone and dialed a number. “I’ll call Zaketa and get her to come get us.” Once she said that she was on her way, Marvin ended the call and he and RJ waited.
“That went better than I thought it would,” Marvin said and put his phone back in his pocket.
“What did you think was gonna happen?”
“I thought I was in trouble.” Marvin looked at RJ. “I owe you an apology.”
“For what?”
“I thought that after I said that I didn’t like your decision, that you went to him.”
RJ laughed. “No, Money, wasn’t nothing like that. He came to see me.” RJ shook his head. “It freaked me out, I open the door and there’s Chuck. Looking like he’d sooner kill me, talkin’ ‘bout your uncle is outside. He’d like a word with you.”
“Shit, then you can imagine what I was going through when you said we’re coming to you.”
“I guess you were sweatin’ bullets the whole time you were waiting,” RJ said and laughed.
“Nigga, please. Sweatin’ bullets is too weak for what I was feeling. Shit, I didn’t know if he was coming to put two in my head or what.”
Once Zaketa picked them up and took them back to Marvin’s car, they set out in search of Psych and Latavius. They went around to all of the spots that he was known to frequent, but he wasn’t in any of those places. That was when they ran into Russell Benton. He told RJ and Marvin where Latavius’s girlfriend, Phenicia lived.
When they arrived at her apartment, she looked through the peephole and saw that it was RJ and Marvin, she went and got her phone to send a text before she opened the door.
“What y’all want?”
“Latavius, he here?” Marvin asked.
“No,” she said and tried to close the door, but Marvin put his hand on the door to stop her.
“You don’t mind if we look around,” he said and pushed his way in.
“Yeah, I do mind,” Phenicia said, but Marvin and RJ didn’t seem to care. Once they were satisfied that Latavius wasn’t there, they left.
“You be sure to tell your boy that we’re looking for him,” Marvin said.
“And we will find him,” RJ said on his way out the door.
They left the building and were on their way back to Marvin’s car when he saw the gun come out the window. He pushed RJ and yelled, “Get down!”
RJ and Marvin hit the ground as the car stopped and two gunmen got out and continued firing. RJ and Marvin lay motionless as bullets rained over their heads, waiting on their chance to fire back. When there finally was a lull in the shooting, RJ opened fire on the shooter, while Marvin made his way toward the car, busting shots as he ran.
RJ kept firing until he saw that Marvin had made it to the car. He got in, started it up and went back for RJ.
When RJ saw Marvin coming, he came up firing. Marvin drove the car between RJ and the shooters and began firing as RJ got in.
“Get us out of here, Money.”
Marvin dropped the car in drive and floored it. He drove down the street to get them out of there. They had driven for a minute or two before RJ announced that the shooters weren’t following.
“You think Phenicia sold us out?” RJ asked.
“I’m sure of it,” Marvin said and made a U-turn.
When they got back to her apartment building, they went up to her unit and knocked on the door again. Marvin and RJ were forced to dive for the ground as Phenicia fired at the door. When they heard the sound of the empty gun clicking, RJ and Marvin got off the floor.
RJ kicked the door in, and Marvin rushed in. Phenicia dropped the gun and began backing up immediately. When RJ rushed toward her, she screamed and tried to run, but she didn’t get far before he grabbed her and dragged her kicking and screaming back into the living room.
“If you scream again, I’ll kill you,” RJ said with his gun to her head.
Marvin went into the kitchen and got a chair. RJ picked her up from the floor and put her in it as Marvin went to find something to tie her up with. RJ busted out laughing when Marvin came back with panty hose.
“Fuck you, RJ,” he said and tied Phenicia to the chair while RJ laughed. Once he was done, Marvin took out his gun and pressed the barrel against her forehead as tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Now, you’re gonna tell me where Latavius is, or I will blow a hole out the back of your head.”
“Gun Hill Projects. I don’t know what building.”
“Good girl,” Marvin said and used the last panty hose to gag her. “If he’s not there, we’ll be back to kill you.”
“Make yourself comfortable,” RJ laughed on his way out the door behind Marvin.
When they arrived at Gun Hill Projects, Latavius was outside with one of his crew. Once RJ and Marvin got out of the car and started toward the building, the shooting started. Latavius fired a few shots and then he ran inside. RJ and Marvin drew their weapons and started shooting back as they took cover. There was a man standing in a doorway firing shots at them. Marvin rose up and fired twice. Both hit him in the head as he returned to cover. RJ came up firing and hit one of the men with one shot in the head. At that moment, Latavius came running out the door firing.
“I got him!” Marvin yelled and went after him.
Latavius continued firing as he ran until he was out of bullets. Marvin fired a couple of shots at Latavius, he stumbled and fell but was able to get back up. He started to run, but he had hurt his leg in the fall. He began limping away, but it was too late, Marvin was on top of him. He stopped, took careful aim and fired one shot at Latavius’s good leg, and he went down. Marvin walked up to him slowly and stood over him as RJ caught up.
Marvin kicked him in the face. “Where’s Psych?”
“Fuck you!” Latav
ius shouted.
“Wrong answer,” RJ said and both he and Marvin fired.
“One to the chest.” RJ said.
“One to the dome,” Marvin said as they walked away.
“Make sure he’s gone!” they both said.
As they walked away from the buildings and headed back to their car, they heard somebody coming up behind them. Marvin looked back and saw it was a woman waving her arm.
“Hey … hey! Y’all slow down,” she said and walked a little faster. “Hey … hey! Y’all wanna know where to find Psych,” she said, and RJ and Marvin stopped and walked back to her.
“You know where he is?” RJ asked and leaned back.
“Yeah. I know where he is right now.”
Marvin stepped up. “Where is he?” he demanded to know, and then he stepped back too.
“I’ll tell you for a hundred dollars,” she said.
Marvin and RJ looked at her and then at each other. She was a pretty woman with a nice body, but her hair was matted to her head, her clothes were dirty, and it was obvious that she hadn’t bathed in who knows how long.
Marvin looked at the woman with her hand out and made a tough decision.
“No deal. But if you take me to him right now, I’ll give you two hundred dollars.”
“Or you could let us help you get off that shit,” RJ offered, and she considered it for a second or two.
“I’ll take the two bills.”
“Let’s go,” Marvin said and started walking quickly toward his car.
RJ leaned close to him. “You sure you want her stank-ass in your car, Money?”
“No, I don’t. But I damn sure don’t trust her enough to give her a bill on a promise. We’ll roll down the windows and I’ll take the ride to Chance in the morning, but I’m gettin’ this nigga.” Especially now that it was what Black wants me to do. Because in this Family, you follow orders, he thought, recalling what Nick had told him. And those orders came from the boss of The Family.
“Y’all know I can hear y’all talkin’ about me,” she said as they got to the car. “You could try whispering.”
“I thought I was,” RJ said.
“No, I heard stank-ass very clearly,” she said and got in the back seat.
“That shit was rude,” Marvin said and got in.
“Whatever, nigga,” RJ said and got in.
Once she told Marvin where to go, he closed his door, started the car, rolled down all the windows, put the air on blast and drove off.
“Really?” she asked.
“Really,” RJ looked back and said.
“How you know where Psych is?” Marvin asked as he drove.
She took a breath. “I suck dick real good, and I got good pussy, so he comes and takes me to his spot, I suck his dick then we smoke and do whatever,” she said.
“And then he drops you back off when he’s done with you,” Marvin said. He agreed that they should try to help her, because that was no way to live.
“What’s your name?” RJ asked.
“Carmelita.”
“Who’d you used to be?” Marvin asked.
“Why do you even care?”
“Because we want to help you get that life back,” RJ told her and the expression on her face changed to something a bit softer, but it didn’t last.
“You’ll be helping me out a whole lot when you put them two bills in my empty hands.” They rode in silence the rest of the way until Carmelita pointed and said, “Over there on the left.”
“Oh, yeah, this is the place,” Marvin said as they drove by and saw the men standing outside. They kept going and parked around the corner. They got out of the car and Marvin reached in his pocket. He counted off two hundred dollars and started to hand it to Carmelita.
“My name is Marvin. I run The Four Kings.” He handed her the money and she kissed it. “If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
She smiled. “I know who you are, Money Marv. You too, RJ. Y’all just don’t remember me.” She held up the money. “Thank you for this. And thank you for the offer.” She started walking away from them. “I’ma think about it for real.”
RJ and Marvin watched her walk away. “Sad.”
“For sure. You don’t remember her?”
“No, should I?”
“She graduated with us, Money. She used to fuck with Byron.”
“That’s her?” Marvin pointed.
“It used to be.”
“She used to be fine!”
“Than a mutha fucka. I thought I recognized her, that’s why I asked her her name.”
“Sad,” Marvin said again.
“So, Money, what you wanna do?”
“There’s at least five or six guys out there.”
“And more inside,” RJ pointed out.
“I think we should call Judah and Pills and get some more guns down here before we go around that corner,” RJ said when two men rounded the corner and began running toward Marvin and RJ shooting wildly.
“Get down!” RJ yelled.
They hit the ground as both men fired at them. RJ and Marvin crawled behind a car and returned fire. Marvin hit one man in the shoulder, but he didn’t go down and kept firing. RJ stood up and hit him in the arm and he dropped his gun. When he did, Marvin shot and killed him and then they both turned their attention to the remaining shooter.
“Cover me,” Marvin said, and RJ kept firing.
He stayed low and worked his way around the cars and was able to get behind him, put the gun to the back of his head and fired.
RJ stood up but had to duck down behind the car as two more men using semi-automatic weapons began firing at them. They were separated from one another and they were both pinned down.
Marvin took a deep breath, tightened the grip on his weapon, rose up, took aim, fired, and dropped one of the shooters. He quickly dropped back to cover as the other man began shooting at him. With his attention now focused on Marvin, RJ came up blasting and hit the other man. He went down hard.
Marvin opened his trunk. “Who you think you are; Rain Robinson?” RJ asked when he looked in Marvin’s trunk. It wasn’t loaded like Rain’s, but there was enough fire power in that trunk that they could hold out for a while in a firefight.
“Who you think I got the idea from,” Marvin said, and he handed RJ an AR15 and some extra clips. Once they reloaded their handguns, RJ and Marvin went back around the corner to the house that Carmelita said they could find Psych, all of the cars that were parked out front were gone, and the house was in darkness.
“He’s gone,” RJ said but they searched the house for him anyway. “We’ll get his ass, Money.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Now I know why they call you Magic. Got my clit throbbing like this.”
Rain laid in bed next to Gavin and her entire body was feeling fabulous. With the exception of Nick, Gavin was the best lover she’d had. And in addition to their great sex life, Rain and Gavin were good together … when they could find the time to be together, which wasn’t very often. Both of them were powerful people with organizations to manage and that left them with little free time to spend together. And on top of that, he was married, which wasn’t good for Rain because she thought that she was falling in love with him.
What? You don’t think I have feelings too?
At first, she tried to play it off to the effects of amazing multiple orgasms; that Gavin Caldwell was no more than good dick that always came whenever she’d call and always made her cum, more than once before he left. But, she knew what she was starting to feel because she’d felt it before, and Rain had promised herself that she would never allow herself to feel that way again.
That meant avoiding moments like the one they were both enjoying. Both basking in the afterglow of intensely amazing sex. Gavin had his arm around her, and Rain’s head was resting against his chest. When she started thinking about asking him to escort her to Nick’s wedding, Rain knew it was time to go.
�
��I gotta go,” Rain said and sat up.
“You always do,” Gavin said and watched Rain go in the bathroom. He gave some thought to going in there with her, but it was getting late and there were things to do that he didn’t want to do, but he knew that he had to do. If he followed her into the shower, all that would do was kick off round three.
He had gone to see his brother, Butch in jail earlier that day and he had a request. It was starting to become a regular thing and each time; it drew Gavin closer to that side of their business and that was not where he wanted to be.
“Mutha fuckas is turning on me left and right!”
“I hear you, Butch.”
“I know this ain’t what you come here to hear, Babyboy, but with shit going the way it’s going and Pop being sick and shit, you’re the only one I can trust to get this done,” Butch said and looked at his younger brother. “I know you don’t wanna do it. I remember Pop saying to me all the time that you were gonna be the one to make sure our children and our children’s children don’t have to hustle like this.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do,” Gavin said. “Me and London are building that business.”
“I know. But this our business too. It’s this business that makes that business do what it do. I need you to step up, Babyboy and run this.”
Gavin looked at his brother. “What you need me to do, Butch?”
“That’s my nigga.” Butch leaned forward. “I need you to grab Clip and Twan and here’s what I need you to do,” Butch said and went on to explain what he needed done and how he needed it done. “And it’s gotta be tonight, understand?”
“I understand.” Gavin sat back. “If I do this, you understand where it’s gonna leave me.”
“You the only one I can trust with this.” Butch laughed. “You the only one you can trust with this.”
“I got you,” Gavin said and now it was time to put Butch’s plan in motion. But that was when his phone rang. He looked at the display and saw that it was Twan’s wife, Takesha.
“What’s wrong, Takesha?” Gavin asked.
“Twan and Clip just got arrested.”
“What?”